Thursday, June 2

Nyonya Dumplings

Living in a family where food is one of the highest priority topic is a happy family. Why? because u get to taste and eat all sorts of delicious food! Just like the King! And at this time of the year, it's Dumplings season, so how could my Malaccan-born Mum miss out this occassion?! Malacca, what comes to your mind when u see this word? is it the chicken rice ball? the durian cendol? or the portugese food? all of them taste good ya? But, have u ever tried the Nyonya Dumplings? or have u ever seen NyonyaDumplings? Yes? No? Haha..nvm, watever your answer is, my mum is currently making it downstairs, and i'm here to tell u more about it! (oh, my mum is not a Nyonya, she learned how to make it from grandma who learned from a Nyonya... long story)

Preperation for Dumpling day started a week back. Mum was running up and down to town and sundry shops, getting all the necessary ingredients. Cooking and frying was done from morning till evening for the past 2 days, soaking of the glutinous rice was done last night, and many many more pre-making steps. This year's production will see an increase of 100 dumplings, because mum's friend placed an order. This is my mum's 1st attempt to sell her secret product, so she's kinda pressured to make the dumplings look nice and perfect. (till now, mum dunno how much to sell for 1 yet? any suggestion?)

As u can see from the pic above, these are the 4 major ingredients that make up the Nyonya Dumpling. Different from the normal "salty-dumplings"; the nyonya dumplings taste rather sweet with a slight saltiness.

This is the glutinous rice, which has to be soaked 1 whole night prior to wrapping. It is also the outer layer for all dumplings. Oh i just remembered that it has to be cooked in the 'kuali', mum said "fry awhile 1st, then got smell". Wow.. didn't know it makes difference!

Main ingredient! the 'isi'=it's pork+cannot tell u+cannot tell u+actually i dunno hahahah! see the puddle of oil there? the yellow patch at the bottom left. Dun complain, it taste good. Well, this isi was also prepared day b4, this morning warmed up again.

hahaha! u know what is this? purpleish blue maggots? (oh pls dun vomit, i dun mean to) Dun worry, it's also glutinous rice, but only in blue. The blue coloring is 100% natural, no artificial coloring, guaranteed. The blue color is obtained from a flower of a creeper in my garden. It only blooms in the morning and remains shy for the rest of the day. Pluck it and mix with water, and u have yourself a natural bluedye. (oh btw, no pesticides nor herbicides in my garden)

Here, everyone knows this. The Pandan leafs. Why Pandan? because it has a very nice smell, it gives the Dumplings extra smell. My mum use to put it in the car also, natural perfume! But i wouldn't wanna put on Pandan perfume to attend a wedding dinner or Prom hahaha! i dun wanna smell like a plant! Same to the blue flower, the Pandan is from my garden too, natural and toxic free! Eh guys, when i was young i use to catch some 'fighting spiders' or better known as "pao fui" ya? got gold head and silver head! long time didn't catch them! wonder which generation alraedy.

Now how can u make a dumpling without this? These are bamboo leafs that Pandas eat back in China, exactly the same type we are using here. Imported (chewahhh sounds gaya, 'imported') Yesterday i was actually suppose to help mum wash and wipe the leafs, but i had my evening nap and forgotten all about it, felt bad. After washing, the leafs have to be soaked in water to remain soft for easier wrapping. An hour or two b4 wrapping, drip the leafs dry but remain moist.

OK, introduction to ingredients done. Now it's wrapping time!

1. Take 1 or 2 leafs (depending on size) and fold it into a cone shape. Scoop some blue maggots, ops sorry, rice into the cone. Cucuk a 2 inch long pandan leaf to the sides. Then, add some white rice and make a hollow in the middle, like a small volcano.

28 Comments:

Arrgghhh....I had been dreaming of the sweet-salty dumplings for days and I can't find anyone in Penang selling it. Now, I can only drool on my keyboard. Gee, now I understand the feelings of those people I had tortured with my Penang Faces blog.

5xmom : My cousin from Penang is coming down to my house this weekend. Wana tapao for u? Yea, blogging bout food is torturous to the readers! REVENGE! haha!

Miche : hello there Miche! Bunga Telang, i shall remember then! Mum did some calculation, she did 99biji, production cost Rm110. if sell RM2.50, earn RM140. For all the hard work for so many days, like not worth leh? hmmm.... since Kajang not selling any, can raise price! put the blame on petrol naik harga! hahahhah!

never see this blue dumplings b4...it looks abit...hmm... i shall not say it!! hahhahaa....how many have u eaten so far?? make sure not that many kayz coz...u should look at the mirror first!!if i go to ur house...still have dumplings left for me or all is in ur tummy!!? anyway, i would love to try this nyonya dumpling someday though i like my mom normal dumplings!!!!!

pOint- here...hey!!its 7:17pm here...n i haven had anything for the day yet n i 'm reading ur blog!!!!wtf???i want 'chang'!!send it over to me!!!whn is 'duan wu jie' harr??dunno whether can i make it back b4 it ends!!!yow jong...KILL U I WILL!!!

This is the 1st time I have nyonya dumpling. Its definate differ from the normal tradisional dumpling. I like nyonya dumpling, the ingredient are very very nice, abit sweet, abit salty, abit spicy... differ taste.

Ehhhh Kampungkai, i like this humourous name. We have the same bamboo leaves in the jungle but i believe most of the stocks in the market are imported from China lah. Once upon a time, when i was hiking in a jungle in Selangor, i plucked some of the bamboo leaves along the way down. That time was near the Dumpling Festival and I used the fresh leaves and dried leaves bought from market to wrap the dumplings! I soaked all leaves in hot water and washed one by one with sponge - that's what my mom did. Those using fresh leaves have fresh green colour! It's more beautiful and that made me happier :-)

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Kampungkai is a name, and also a place in the virtual world where u read about his lovely writings. It's interesting, it's addictive. Do visit kampungkai during your free time and call out loud KAMPUNGKAI if u do see me!